Week to Week News Quiz for 3/6/15

John Zipperer
Vice president of media & editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California

They're parcelling out the jobs and blame in our latest latest Week to Week news quiz.

Here are some random but real hints: It gave the country a new goal; they live in a dangerous neighborhood; the lion acts will step it up; and it was too modern for them. Answers are below the quiz.

1. What international organization told Iran it has to make a change?
a. The UN Climate Panel threatened to expel Iran if it continued to export shale oil
b. The IMF told Iran it needs to cut its budget deficit or face rejection of a $12 billion loan
c. The G20 (economic group of 20 leading economies) said it would expel Iran unless the country reduces defense spending and diversifies its economy
d. International soccer association FIFA said Iran needs to end its ban on women attending soccer games

2. What happened when the government reported that the U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February?
a. The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% and the dollar hit an 11.5-year high
b. The Federal Reserve indicated that it would decrease interest rates
c. President Obama announced that his federal jobs program was no longer necessary
d. The government revised downward its economic growth estimates for the year

3. What is conservative billionaire David Koch supporting in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court?
a. Auditing the Federal Reserve
b. Supporting ROTC programs on public university campuses
c. Same-sex marriage
d. Campaign finance reform

4. What example did potential GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson give to argue that homosexuality was a choice and not genetic?
a. "a lot of people ... go into prison straight, and when they come out they're gay"
b. He told Fox News' Sean Hannity that "there are no gay animals"
c. None of the characters on Star Trek are gay
d. No one in Iran is gay, so clearly it can be controlled

5. What new employment benefit is Poland now offering its members of parliament?
a. Daily mani-pedi treatments
b. Round-trip flights to the United States
c. Trips aboard the Soyuz space capsule
d. Military training in case of Russian invasion

6. Who said they would stop using elephants as of 2018?
a. Chipotle Mexican Grill
b. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
c. Mountain guides in Nepal
d. Carthaginian Tours in Italy

7. What did North Korea call the person who attacked the American ambassador to South Korea with a knife?
a. A man "intent on destroying comity between the peace-loving Korean nations"
b. Someone who gave a "knife shower of justice" to the ambassador
c. A neo-capitalist hoodlum
d. "Nowhere near as great a man as Dennis Rodman"

8. How did actor Harrison Ford injure himself?
a. He got into a scuffle with a Star Wars fan who wanted to have a light saber duel
b. He crashed the plane he was piloting onto an LA golf course
c. He fell down a flight of stairs after suffering a heart attack
d. Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

9. Who are Pope Francis' latest fans, according to a Pew Research survey?
a. Two-thirds of atheists
b. Southern United Methodists
c. Members of ISIS
d. Italian youth soccer teams that have adopted Pope Francis mascots

10. How did the Indian government react to the release of a video interview of a convicted murderer and rapist who blamed the victim?
a. Ordered all judges and lawyers in the country to view the video and take a test about it
b. Demanded that YouTube remove the video
c. Paid to have the video dubbed into 120 languages so it could be understood across the entire country
d. Produced its own video rebuttal starring Bollywood actors

BONUS. Why will school classes no longer be able to visit the 13th-century Assyrian city of Nimrud?
a. The Egyptian military has made it a site for secret anti-terrorism training exercises
b. Islamic State militants demolished it
c. After the 34th Starbucks was opened in the city, it lost its UNESCO World Heritage standing
d. The city, which is controlled by Islamic State, has banned all formal education

Explanations of the hints: It gave the country a new goal: FIFA's leader said Iran shouldn't ban women from attending soccer matches; they live in a dangerous neighborhood: following the request of a member of parliament, military training is being offered to his colleagues worried that the conflict in Ukraine will spill over into Poland; the lion acts will step it up: the elephant acts will be leaving the circus; and it was too modern for them: the cultural treasures of Nimrud and Nimrud itself were destroyed by ISIS.